Mohamed Abusal Archives

Mohamed Abusal

/ ARTISTS EXHIBITED / Artist, Mohamed Abusal /

Mohamed Abusal (b. 1976, Gaza) began his career with daring and intensity, coming onto the scene in 2000 with a rush of work that has yet to cease. In 2005 Abusal was awarded the Charles Asprey Prize for Contemporary Art, and his works continue to garner critical attention. Though his style has been refined through self-study and a number of international workshops, Abusal’s works retain their early urgent edge.

At play in Abusal’s projects –which variously combine installation, video, photography, and painted works—are questions of technology and the permissible. He mixes the fantastic with every day, always with the aim of critical commentary on contemporary life in his native Gaza.

Abusal has exhibited at Al-Mamal Foundation in Jerusalem and the French Institute in Gaza, Ramallah, and Nablus. Outside of Palestine, Abusal has had several solo exhibitions in France, the US, the UK, Australia, and Dubai. He is a co-founder of the contemporary art collective, Eltiqa.

: Mohamed Abusal, Jawdat's Garden II, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 192 x 149 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Thorns and Flowers, 2014, oil on canvas, 205 x 205 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Dancing Queen, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 90 x 70.5 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Samar's Garden, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 105 x 80 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Morning Glory, 2014, oil on canvas, 90 x 70.5 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Rauof's Balcony, 2015, oil on canvas, 110 x 86 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Enduring Love, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 192 x 150 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Baby Cactus, 2016, oil on canvas, triptych, 60 x 40 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Baby Cactus, 2016, oil on canvas, triptych, 60 x 40 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Baby Cactus, 2016, oil on canvas, triptych, 60 x 40 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Jawdat's Garden I, 2016, oil and oil bar on canvas, 134 x 184 cm

: Mohamed Abusal, Nostalgia, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 123 x 80 cm

Thorns in Bloom by Mohamed Abusal

/ Mohamed Abusal (Exhibition) / Exhibition, Mohamed Abusal, Thorns in Bloom /

Thorns in Bloom mohamed abusal

Mohamed Abusal, Samar's Garden, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 105 x 80 cm

THORNS IN BLOOM
MOHAMED ABUSAL

21 SEPTEMBER - 6 OCTOBER 2016

The spiny bodies of Mohamed Abusal’s cacti emerge from the canvases of Thorns in Bloom, full and soft, like bodies ripe with sleep. As unique as the individuals who gaze at them, these do not stay botanical drawings that aim to capture the essence of a plant species, nor are they still-life drawings of static arrangements. These are living portraits and give the sabra a new artistic vocabulary.

Showcasing a variety of techniques through several different painting studies, the exhibit gathers luscious watercolor sketches on squares of paper beside striking and fluorescent acrylic on an oversize canvas. Bold and subtle, heavy with fruit or light with papery blossoms, some silhouettes take almost human shapes. The paintings variously evoke a man’s ribcage, the curve of a woman’s breast; soft folds of green flesh protected by a sheen of, at times, invisible thorns.

Abusal, who developed the paintings first as a technique of meditation, paints the cactus-like it has never been seen. The works reveal a true study of form. Markedly different from his widely shown photography and installation-based exhibits–which make bold and incisive political commentaries–the cacti reveal first a sensitive artist’s eye and beneath a reflection on the politics of Palestinian symbol.

To look at the works, the plants come alive, their flowers open, and they grow plump with water. Figured alone, in shared pots, lined up on a sill or a balcony ledge, or seen close-up, the color and diversity of a single plant are on display, and Abusal’s artistry is in full bloom.